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Latinos Break Through in East Palo Alto
By
Benedict Dimapindan
November 3, 2004
Ruben Abrica said that many of the recent stories popping up
in the local papers about Latino representation – or the
absence of it – in the East Palo Alto City Council seem
to carry a negative undertone.
“They appear to be saying that because there is a large
number of Latinos but little or no representation, then that
must mean there’s something wrong with the Hispanic community
there,” he said.
But that’s simply not how Abrica sees the city he’s
been calling home for 25 years.
“I remind people there was a period of time when there
was a lot of involvement,” he said. “There was a
Latino on the council, which happened to be me, and every commission
had a Latino member. I’m sure we can do it again.”
And Abrica, who came to the United States from Mexico when he
has 14,
has done it again. The 55-year-old De Anza College instructor
held on to a double-digit percentage lead throughout the night,
earning himself a two-year term on the city council.
“It feels good,” Abrica said after learning of his
large early lead. “The Latino community participated very
intensely. At least now we have some representation.”
“I have to do my best to work hard for the city. I’ve
done it before; I’m looking forward to doing it again.”
The only other Latino candidate, Everardo Luna, who was seeking
a four-year spot, was fifth out of nine in preliminary results,
getting about 12 percent of the vote.
Deputy City Clerk Minnie Warren said that Abrica fared better
than Luna in the race because he has longer community ties, making
him better known around the city.
Both candidates were campaigning in person at the East Palo
Alto City Hall Monday, even as the sun began its descent, turning
the long Election Day into election night.
Luna dressed in white shirt and red and blue striped tie, stood
in the city hall parking lot, where he had been since 7 a.m.,
greeting voters as they made their way to the polls.
“We’re all working bees today,” said Luna,
a 30-year-old UPS driver.
Just a few dozen feet away, Abrica was shaking hands and passing
out his own campaign sheets.
“I’ve been bouncing around all over town, going
to all the polls – it’s been pretty busy,” said
Abrica, stopping in mid-sentence to hand out a flier to a passer-by.
Abrica was the last, and only, Latino to hold a council seat.
After the City of East Palo Alto was incorporated on July 1,
1983, Abrica was among the first members of the council, but
lost his seat in the 1988 election.
According to the 2000 Census, Hispanic residents comprise roughly
60 percent of the city’s 30,000-plus population, making
it the largest Latino majority community in the Bay Area.
Despite being the vast majority, Luna said that for the longest
time the Latino population has been asking for a representative, “someone
in the city council they can actually reflect off of.”
Rubi Paredes, a 26-year-old Hispanic resident, said she “definitely” feels
there is a lack of Hispanic representation in the city’s
governing bodies. Paredes also said she voted for both Luna and
Abrica in hopes that they’ll address the issues that truly
concern her.
“Hopefully they can make the council more diverse, because
I don’t think it is,” said Paredes, who has lived
in East Palo Alto since 1989.
“I hope they can bring changes in education and security.
Even though security has improved a lot, I think they can still
do more. I think they need to focus more on education. I know
the schools here are not the best.”
Abrica added that the reason for the lack of Hispanic representation
is “a kind of historical question,” because it is
the result of a combination of factors.
“The percentage of how many people are eligible to vote
is determined by how many in a population is 18 and older,” he
said. “When it comes to Latino adults, in the past, a large
number of those adults were not citizens. So that is a biased
formula. And that’s one factor that needs to be built in.”
Other factors include several Latinos running for council over
the years, but not winning, Abrica said.
However, Abrica and Luna personally made sure that the Latino
vote would have more weight on the final outcome in this election,
as both went door-to-door to register residents to vote.
The San Mateo County Registrar of Voters contributed the biggest
effort, adding approximately 500 new Hispanic voters, according
to Luna.
Contact Benedict Dimapindan at bend1@stanford.edu
